2 May 2008
Start Drilling
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: Uncategorized; World Economy .
This op/ed piece in the Washington Post makes a lot of sense to me.
By Robert J. Samuelson
What to do about oil? First it went from $60 to $80 a barrel, then from $80 to $100 and now to $120. Perhaps we can persuade OPEC to raise production, as some senators suggest; but this seems unlikely. The truth is that we’re almost powerless to influence today’s prices. We are because we didn’t take sensible actions 10 or 20 years ago. If we persist, we will be even worse off in a decade or two. The first thing to do: Start drilling.
It may surprise Americans to discover that the United States is the third-largest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia. We could be producing more, but Congress has put large areas of potential supply off-limits. These include the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and parts of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. By government estimates, these areas may contain 25 billion to 30 billion barrels of oil (against about 30 billion barrels of proven U.S. reserves today) and 80 trillion cubic feet or more of natural gas (compared with about 200 tcf of proven reserves)…
What keeps these areas closed are exaggerated environmental fears, strong prejudice against oil companies and sheer stupidity. Americans favor both “energy independence” and cheap fuel. They deplore imports — who wants to pay foreigners? — but oppose more production in the United States. Got it? The result is a “no-pain energy agenda that sounds appealing but has no basis in reality,” writes Robert Bryce in “Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of ‘Energy Independence.’ “…
On environmental grounds, the alternatives to more drilling are usually worse. Subsidies for ethanol made from corn have increased food prices and used scarce water, with few benefits. If oil is imported, it’s vulnerable to tanker spills. By contrast, local production is probably safer. There were 4,000 platforms operating in the Gulf of Mexico when hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit. Despite extensive damage, there were no major spills, says Robbie Diamond of Securing America’s Future Energy, an advocacy group.
13 Comments so far...
Angela Rogin Says:
2 May 2008 at 10:17 am.
This is encouraging. I’ve thought it was weird that there was no public outcry about this before. If we get more columns like this and people really talk it up then maybe Washington will feel the pressure and start doing something.
Mac Says:
2 May 2008 at 10:33 am.
You are right Angela. There is also a problem with time. It will take years to get things up and running so we need to get on the ball and start now. It won’t help prices for awhile because of how long it will take but we have to do it.
Jeezer Says:
2 May 2008 at 10:53 am.
I say the environmental wackos still have to much power.
jobob911 Says:
2 May 2008 at 12:51 pm.
Doesn’t make any sense not to start drilling right now. Utah has a lot of oil that we should start drilling for.
M.G. Says:
2 May 2008 at 1:40 pm.
ANWAR
Cavetrollhead Says:
2 May 2008 at 2:26 pm.
OK everyone, write your congressmen and ask them to make a stink. We are preaching to the choir here. I am going to write senator hatch and challenge him to raise his voice. I think politicians will benefit if they strike while the iron is hot.
Matt Says:
2 May 2008 at 2:48 pm.
Great advise Cave. Let’s practice what we preach. Stir up the pot.
E.E. Says:
2 May 2008 at 3:12 pm.
We need reminders like this more often to get out and do something with the things we learn here. Purpose three says to spread the message. We need to write our elected officials and we need to talk to people around us and help spread the ideas we feel strongly about. A couple of months ago we discussed doing this kind of thing more but people need reminders. We can email these blogs and add our own comments. We should talk to friends and family and co-workers and get them talking about it. We should write letters to the editors and comment on big boards like newspaper articles and help swing public opinion our way. Words have power.
CindyL. Says:
2 May 2008 at 5:42 pm.
That’s right. If we take the time to come here and read then we should be activists and email our reps. I will make that a goal to have done by Monday. This really is something we should be yelling about. It is so completely ridiculous.
Jan W. Says:
2 May 2008 at 7:35 pm.
Done!!! I just emailed Senator Bond so I can pat myself on the back and sleep well tonight.
Cavetrollhead Says:
3 May 2008 at 3:32 am.
Nice!
avatar Says:
4 May 2008 at 7:09 pm.
It looks like the vote here is in favor of drilling 
I am generally in favor of drilling, if done right. But, even leaving aside environmentalist worries, I can see two arguments in favor of taking it slow: (1) the oil and natural gas in the ground is money in the bank and will still be there when we do decide to tap it; and (2) now that oil prices are >$50/barrel some fairly “clean” alternative energy sources become practical and it would be nice to develop them, this time around.
Cavetrollhead Says:
5 May 2008 at 12:50 am.
Good points Avatar.
I want to add that I think the environmental issues are entirely bogus. If we continue to force production overseas in countries where the environment is not watched over, we hurt the overall environment. Lets do it in the U.S.A where political pressure provides safeguards for the environment. When the dictators in the Middle East and South America want oil nature conservationists aren’t going to stand in their way.
In the case of oil environmentalists are hurting the world wide environment.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.